This invention relates to a communication apparatus, such as a facsimile machine, having a LAN interface, and to a communication method associated with the apparatus.
When incoming facsimile data from an outside line are terminated at a prior-art facsimile apparatus having a LAN interface, users on the LAN are not notified of the incoming call. If a system is adopted in which limited notification of incoming data is given, absolutely no judgment is made as to whether a terminal that is to be notified has logged on to the LAN. Even if such a judgment is made, appropriate measures are not taken in a case where the terminal is found not to have logged on.
When there is an incoming call to the abovementioned conventional facsimile apparatus and the call includes an "incoming-call notification indication" to a user who is supposed to be logged on to LAN, either the incoming call is refused or the apparatus continues to accept the call, with attendant filling of its internal memory, if the user has not actually logged on. In either case, the result is inconvenience as far as the user is concerned.